Furloughed a second time

Loubietoubs

Hi there. When I was furloughed in November, my employer asked us to fill in a form agreeing to be furloughed. We came off furlough for some of December, but now our business (hospitality) is closed again. Does anyone know if I need to fill in another form again??? My employer is otherwise occupied and I wanted a quick answer! Thanks in advance. 

Grumpy_chap

That all depends on what the employer chooses to do.
It is quite likely the employer accepts the agreement from November as still being valid, but they may choose to do a second round of forms to protect themselves.  If the latter, unlikely they will do the forms until next week at the earliest.
So long as you receive the payment, does it matter whether or not you did a second form?

Loubietoubs

Thanks for the reply. It’s a very small business with only 3 of us eligible for furlough. I would imagine he’ll just use the last form then as consent. I just wondered if I needed to do it again for him to access the money from the government so I actually get the payment. 

Thrugelmir

Loubietoubs said:

My employer is otherwise occupied and I wanted a quick answer! 

With the early part of the New Year bad for the hospitaility industry even in good times. Hardly surprising your employer is busy. 

sharpe106

Loubietoubs said:

Thanks for the reply. It’s a very small business with only 3 of us eligible for furlough. I would imagine he’ll just use the last form then as consent. I just wondered if I needed to do it again for him to access the money from the government so I actually get the payment. 

They do not need the form to get the money from the government. The form is your agreement to temporarily allow a change to your contract.

Jonesy1977

sharpe106 said:

Loubietoubs said:

Thanks for the reply. It’s a very small business with only 3 of us eligible for furlough. I would imagine he’ll just use the last form then as consent. I just wondered if I needed to do it again for him to access the money from the government so I actually get the payment. 

They do not need the form to get the money from the government. The form is your agreement to temporarily allow a change to your contract.

This is correct - you may want to flag it up with your employer to re-sign (for their benefit) as they have a legal responsibility to keep the paperwork in order in the event of a HMRC audit.

unholyangel

sharpe106 said:

Loubietoubs said:

Thanks for the reply. It’s a very small business with only 3 of us eligible for furlough. I would imagine he’ll just use the last form then as consent. I just wondered if I needed to do it again for him to access the money from the government so I actually get the payment. 

They do not need the form to get the money from the government. The form is your agreement to temporarily allow a change to your contract.

They do need consent/written agreement to be eligible to claim the money though. They (employer & employee) can vary a previous furlough agreement to cover a new period but it must be agreed before the period they are claiming for. It needs to be in writing and needs to be retained by the employer for 5 years.

If you read the direction, you are only considered a furloughed employee for the purposes of CJRS if your employer furloughs you in accordance with paragraphs 7.1 to 7.3 - which detail the written agreement requirements.